Ship Classifications
Various different classes of ships populate the armies of the different species. Their sizes and capabilities can range from small rovers to massive dreadnaughts and beyond. Some kinds are exclusive to certain races, while others are standard fare. Below, you will find a list of all the known ship classifications. Rovers Rovers are small, individually-manned and unarmed craft used in exploration or quick escapes. Usually between 50 and 100 feet in length, Rovers are one of the most common ships in the Galaxy and are widely produced as both secondary scouting craft and as lifeboats. They come in two different subclasses - Short-Range and Long-Range. Short-Range Rovers lack the 8th Dimensional Drives common to most ships in the Galaxy which means it cannot perform extremely long jumps (such as from Oritseal Amiliurnus to Dakini). However, they make up for this shortcoming with powerful shielding and impulse drives, which makes a Short-Range Rover perfect for scouting a planet's surface for a landing zone, light exploration missions or diplomatic envoys. Short-Range Rovers are also unarmed, meaning they are considered a passive craft. Long-Range Rovers, on the other hand, can be considered a light assault craft. They are usually slightly larger than a Short-Range Rover, and possess the same high-grade impulse drives and shielding as their smaller cousins. Unlike their counterparts, however, Long-Range Rovers can be equipped with 8th Dimensional Drives and weapons (usually photon torpedoes), making them excellent units in guerilla warfare or light patrols. Rovers are manufactured by all species, although they were initially conceived by the Alinteans. The Scain now hold a contract with the Senate to produce Rovers for its fleets. Patrol Craft These are small (100 - 200 feet in length), lightly armed ships that are usually found on the borders of an empire's influence. They can carry multiple types of torpedoes or missiles, but their shielding is usually lighter than that of a Rover. This reduces the strain on the engines and allows their 8th Dimensional and impulse drives to activate quicker. Patrol Craft are also easy to track down, as they are usually emitting in several spectrums. When damaged or destroyed, their emissions bleed out at a faster rate, effectively turning a damaged Patrol Craft into a siren. Patrol Craft are primarily manufactured by the Ene'tami, and are sold widely across the Galaxy. The Alinteans are one of the largest buyers, usually purchasing a whopping 200,000 Patrol Craft every Galactic year. The Senate, however, has no interest in these ships as it relies on intel from the fringe worlds that make up the extent of the Empire. Scout Craft As with the Patrol Craft, Scout Craft are lightly armed and reasonably well defended. Unlike their cousins, however, they give off almost no emissions whatsoever, making them extremely difficult to track or find. This makes them useful as recon or spy ships, and are often utilized as such. The only issue lies with one being shot down or captured, as they lack the emissions to track them down. Distress beacons solve this problem, but also make the wreckage visible to any and all ships in the area, in turn making survivors open fodder for pirates, slavers, or other enemies. Like the Patrol Craft, Scout Craft are betwen 100 and 200 feet in length. The Scout Craft is produced by the Senate, based on designs for the Scout Craft, and is found throughout the Galaxy. Boarding Craft Although not a craft in the traditional sense, Boarding Crafts are found on almost all large ships. Used as infiltration craft, these 250 foot long pods are dispensed as salvage units, designed to attach to crippled ships and insert troops. They lack 8th Dimensional Drives, but are propelled by a single impulse drive. They also possess moderate shielding. Designed first by the Heil, boarding craft have found widespread use throughout the Galaxy. Fighters Standard on large craft, much like boarding craft, fighters are one-man assault crafts designed to flood the battlefield with fire. A respectable War Frigate can safely carry over sixty fighters, while tactical cruisers can carry ten times that amount. Some models (such as the Alintean SN-117 Stellar Fighter) do possess 8th Dimensional drives, but most do not. Fighters are equipped with three types of missiles as well as standard, rapid-fire weapons like miniguns, and can be used in space and in atmospheric combat. Most Fighters are approximately 400 - 450 feet in length. Contrived by the Alinteans and the Scain, fighters have grown in popularity across the Galaxy, and have taken many forms, such as the Heil Growlers and Rhurni F-119 Variable Lancers. Frigates The first of the large combat vessels, frigates can be piloted by a crew of one to twenty, and usually carry at least one Rover or Fighter. Scain Frigates, like Turukaishal's Victoria, can be equipped with the necessary lodgings to support their crew for extended voyages of several months. Other races produce Frigates designed for quicker missions and direct combat. Their sizes vary, but generally range from 500 feet (small) to 1500 feet (large). Almost all Frigates are powered by a fusion reactor which feeds into impulse drives. While smaller ships use fusion nodes, a full-bore fusion reactor provides the necessary power to keep a Frigate in the fight for long periods of time. As with most of the large warships, the Frigate was first designed by the Alinteans. It has received widespread fame, however, as a staple ship of the Scain. Dropships Standard air-to-ground combat vehicles designed to shuttle troops in and out of battle zones, Dropships are usually between 1000 and 1200 feet in length. They lack 8th Dimensional Drives like most of the smaller ships, as they are usually carried within larger craft. Dropships comfortably seat one pilot, one gunner and an additional twenty to fifty passengers (depending on the species manufacturing them). Dropships carry weapons, but the type varies based on the manufacturing species. Alintean Dropships carry magnetic railguns, while Scain Dropships rely on the galvornite-cooled energy weapons common to their species. The Alnteans were the first to craft a Dropship, but it is now found throughout the Galaxy. Scizes/Lancers Common only to the Zyzyt (Scizes) and the Erythian (Lancers) Empires, Scizes and Lancers are rapidly rotating saucer craft designed with extreme maneuverability in mind. The upper and lower halves of the chassis rotate to rapidly, meaning the craft is an exceptionally good ramming vehicle, while the thrusters and weapons can be freely relocated to any point along the perimeter. In the event of destruction, each chamber within the craft can be jettisoned as a lifepod, minimizing the loss of crew. They possess both impulse and 8th Dimensional Drives, making them maneuverable and deadly in combat, as well as being armed with Piercer Units. Although there is technically very little difference between a Scize and a Lancer, both races adamantly maintain that the other stole their technology. Competition between the races has created various different types of Scizes and Lancers in varying sizes. The accepted length of either craft, however, is between 1200 and 1500 feet. Warships At almost half a mile in length, Warships are truly a sight to behold. They carry numerous smaller craft within them, as well as over twenty types of munitions, including bombs, missiles, torpedoes, chainguns and Piercer Units. The Warship has only one purpose - heavy combat - and is aptly designed. The hull is easily ten feet thick in any given place, and visual confirmation of targets is acquired through the use of cameras, not windows, which means a Warship has very few structural weaknesses. Propelled through space by no less than fifty individual impulse drives, run off of five full-bore fusion plants, the Warship can traverse immense distances quickly and efficiently. Capable of keeping a crew of over 250 comfortable for months at a time, Warships are a formidable force in a fight. However, they are extremely costly to produce (1.25 trillion Credits each). Warships were first manufactured, strangely enough, by the Taeski. They are now found in the Scain, Alintean and Erythian Empires as well. The Heil have been known to purchase them from other empires, but not make them on their own. Cruisers Cruisers are one of the larger types of craft, easily reaching 3500 feet in length. They carry swarms of fighters and rovers in their bowels, but are usually equipped with only one or two main weapons (the type of which depends on the manufacturing race). Apart from the upgrade in size and the downgrade in weapons, they are virtually identical to the Warship. The Cruiser is produced primarly by the Heil, but has been seen recently in production by the Iharsh-Daraz as well. War Frigates The larger brother of the Frigate, War Frigates are massive floating fortresses designed to overpower a battlefield with minimal effort. In addition to possessing similar weapons to the Warship, War Frigates also possess powerful Chaos Drives, which allow them to scramble enemy communications and even damage shielding. They are often a front-line defense for smaller ships, and are also seen protecting fledgling colonies or large orbital stations. War Frigates are produced exclusively by the Scain, meaning they possess galvornite-cooled energy weapons. Dreadnaughts Dreadnaughts are almost fully automated, requiring no more than two people to pilot it. All of the other systems are fully automatic, including the defenses, pressurization, et-cetera. Dreadnaughts have a weapon exclusive to their classification, which makes them very deadly in combat. The use of Magnetohydrodynamic weapons in combat is usually prohibited to any race other than the Rhurni, which means the Dreadnaught is usually in short supply. The Scain, however, continue to produce them. Due to the low crew requirement, this was the ship gifted to Richard and Klaara at the end of Twice-Shadowed Saint. Gunships Capital Ships Tactical Cruisers Macrofortresses Dordwelsserhoff